vs. 
New York Knicks (15-21, 6-11 road) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder ( 20-16, 10-8 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 753)
Stream: Click Here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 106.0 (21st), Knicks – 106.6 (17th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 103.8 (7th), Knicks – 107.6 (19th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.3 (18th), Knicks– 93.9 (9th)
View from the enemy: Knickerblogger
NOTE: Recap will be up a little late tonight. But it’s coming.
The Knicks don’t stink. They may be 15-21 but bear in mind, they started 4-15, meaning they are 11-6 in their last 17 games. This is a dangerous game because when they get rolling, they can obviously score the ball. But typically, good defense beats good offense, especially when the opposing defense isn’t very good. So that should make you feel better. But the Knicks have beat good teams. They have wins against Atlanta (twice), Phoenix, New Orleans and Portland. So yeah, I’m a little nervous about it.
The Knicks coming in: New York recently lost to Houston Saturday night after holding a big lead at halftime. The Knicks have won three of four though and like I said, 11 of their last 17. They’re 4-4 in their last eight road games.
THE MATCHUPS
Wilson Chandler has already said he hopes to contain Kevin Durant. I don’t know what his definition of “contain” is, but if that means holding him to his average, I think you can bank on that. Chandler isn’t a bad defender by any means, but he’s not a lockdown guy either.
David Lee could be an issue inside because he’s a double-double beast, and he’s going to constantly hit the offensive glass. So Nenad Krstic, Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison will have to make it their plan to limit that. Jared Jeffries is the Knicks starting four, so Jeff Green should have an advantage there on both the boards and inside. (Al Harrington missed Saturday’s game with a calf injury and is questionable.)
The Knicks run really a three forward offense, as Danilo Gallinari is technically a small forward. But that’s why Thabo is so valuable. He can guard Gallinari, he can guard Chandler or he could even guard Jeffries. Russell Westbrook should have a leg up on Chris Duhon at the point, but you do have to watch for Duhon catching and shooting if Westbrook collapses to help on penetration from Gallinari and Chandler.
OKC should have a leg up on the bench, unless Nate Robinson decides to go absolutely insane again. But any time you rely mostly on Jonathan Bender and MARCUS Landry to get it done inside off the bench, you should expect to have problems.
This is a chance to go five (!!!) games over and keep the momentum moving forward. But it is a dangerous game because the Knicks are playing well and can beat anybody, anytime. Regardless of that, I’d definitely be disappointed with a Thunder loss tonight.
Tip at 7:00 CST. Go Defense > Offense.
@Royce LOL everyone needs to stop the cussing because this guy doesn't like it. hahaha go fuck yourself
@Dan2
If Mullens or Ibaka work out you still have to pay them after their rookie scale ends.
I think what people forgot with the draft trade for Mullens is that while Beaubois might be a better player, that doesn't mean that he is more valuable. Big men, as our history has pointed out, are hard to develop and expensive. So even though it is a higher risk, the reward could be worth it. It's like poker odds, you call when your pot odds, the money you could make if you win, are lower than your odds to make your hand. So if you are 1 chance in 20 to make your hand, but it only costs $1 to call with a pot of $50, then you take that chance, cuz in the long run, you make money. Mullens had a hard past, which I think stunted his growth, he is still really young and with a good work ethic, could become somewhat valuable to this team in the future. Wouldn't it be nice not to have to sign a big name big man for $15 mil a year?
@The DON
I would appreciate you losing the cussing. I'm not keen on it. Thanks.
@justin
Well it only has to make sense for 2 of the 3 teams right? :)
@justin
I agree. If I am Sacto and I am willing to part with a guy who can score 30 points any night, I had better get more than Jeff Green and Etan Thomas. That would be like trading Durant to the knicks for Gallinari and a scrub to named later.
Also, I think Royce was attending the OU/OSU game, so the recap may be later tonight.
I was looking forward to watching Gallinari, but I thought Danillo was garbage tonight. He did rebound though. But I wasn't impressed at all. David Lee had a double double, but he never looked like much of a threat.
The first play of the game where Russell slammed KD's miss was 5th in ESPN's top 10 plays of the day.
We scored 54 points in the paint. I wondered if we would ever record an assist tonight, since every pass to an open man resulted in an easy drive to the basket. Probably the easiest, most effortless 106 points we'll score this year.
Also, I'd like to see Maynor take some of Harden's minutes in some situations. The last two games especially. I love them both, but I think what Maynor brings works better in some situations.
Kings could get more for K-Mart than Jeff Green / Thomas.
I was just playing around with trade machine and I came up with this one. Kevin Martin to the t-wolves, al jefferson to us, jeff green and etan thomas to the kings.
The Knicks are like the Cubs. They have this great mystique of greatness but how many titles have they won? Every once in a while they are good, but they never can break through and win a championship.
man, the thunder board on real gm is pretty bad, too
have any of those people actually watched the players this year
@Keith
New Yorkers are much more down to Earth than people from Boston or LA.
Most of the Knicks fans I know are realists bordering on pessimists about basketball. Even during the good years there was a lot of bashing on the Knicks. I don't think it's the same in Boston or LAL, or definitely not as prevalent. NY sports fans seem a lot more sane to me.
Knick fans just suffer from a case of Laker/Celtic-itis. They live in a huge city that everyone talks so highly of, and so they think everything associated with it is gold.
So no recap tonight?
yeah i agree the knicks fans are delusional, and i am one, the knicks at best are an 8th seed in the east and then are just boston or clevelands whipping boy
Durant has 153 points on 85 shots in January. Unreal.
@The DON
Feb 20th.
Russ averages 16 so that's kind of silly. They're in the East, though, and don't get to see OKC often.. probably base much of their thoughts on our players (outside of Durant) on last year.
He was more efficient shooting than usual, though.
I have tickets for the game at NY so I hope we beat them as well :)
Yeah, nothing really against their franchise, but their fanbase is intolerable. These guys really believe gallinari is a potential franchise player. Read their boards, they really believe it.
When do we administer the ass whooping in NYC? When do we play there?
@The DON
hahahahah, i have no hate for the knicks' franchise, buuuuuut it feels good as hell to dominate that fanbase. what a bunch of goons
An excerpt from the knicks' boards game summary:
"*Durant just killed us, but that is to be expected.. we let westbrook get off a bit to much,we gave up 17 points to that clown"
I already cannot wait for the game in NY. I want to humiliate them on their court. F*** THE KNICKS
sorry anonymous was me
@Pennington
LMAO, so true. #1 Thunder commandment: "thou shall not doubt presti....ever"
I was pissed when we sen Roddy B to Dallas for Byron, but I forgot the first rule of Thunder fanhood. "Sam Presti is always right"
I was just reading the knicks blog, in their preview they said we were overrated, then we kicked in their teeth
And again, Hilton Armstrong has been traded to the Kings, just as I predicted.
http://www.dailythunder.com/2009/10/smart-thoughts-of-the-week-oct-2-oct-9/#comments
@555 Hmm, Pretty sure freaking isnt a cuss word, but good intentions though.
Also, I got all warm and fuzzy reading comments about the Thunder on the rival blogs.
Great game... Westbrook was great, exactly what the team need. I really like Maynor as the backup PG too. The team was trying to find the backup PG for Westbrook and looks like they found him... Actually, Maynor's looked good since his firt game for the Thunder. Ibaka and Mullens both rookies are still pretty raw but really look good. Hopefully they will keep improving. Seriously, if they become half decent (actually I think Ibaka is at that level now) and Thunder will be VERY SCARY to play against... Green should look to drive the lane more, and stop shooting the fr..king 3s... I know he can make it ONCE in a WHILE... But, 5 attempts are too many considering he's less thatn 30%. KD was great... He actually gave up scoring after the first quarter... I mean, 15 pts in the first, and then 15 pts in the other 3 quarters. I think he just let the Knicks know that he was in the game and then it just opened up the room for his teammates to attack and score. Overall, great game even though it's Knicks that they beat but Knicks did manage 6-4 in their last 10 games before tonight's game.
@justin
We definitely don't need to have those two on the floor together for a while. Games like tonight being an obvious exception. I thought Mullens looked good tonight, but he clearly still has a long way to go. Still, he's making progress, which is important. Bigs are (almost) always slow to develop, so I'm just happy to see him getting some good minutes and not screwing up too much.
LOL Knick fans are praising Mullens, talking about how good and impressive he looked.
My god, we have yet ANOTHER piece to be excited about it seems.
Presti you beautiful, sexy creature, I love you.
He looks a lot more confident but he's still not ready. I don't think we should have both Mullens and Serge getting steady rotation minutes, that's too many mistakes on the court..
It may be premature, but he, Byron, really just looks like a completely different player (athletically speaking, and his physical presence.. not necessarily basketball skills)) now as opposed to in summer league.
Ease it on the Mullens talk.. he has what, 15 NBA minutes? He's a huge project. I'd rather see DJ White in the game :)
One of KD's shortest games. Good to see him get some time off.
Nice to have wins like this..
We're 8-2 over the last 10. I think this San Antonio game is important before after that we've got a pretty tough three game stretch.
Awhile ago we were talking about how we'd do on this 10 game stretch after the Phoenix game. Most people said 7-3 would mean a successful stretch, and now we've got a chance for 8-2. Pretty impressive.
@Greg
I am in 100% agreement. I think he should be plugged into games here and there whenever we have a double digit lead and throughout the rest of this season accumulate some in-game experience. And obviously he should be getting every second of garbage time
Byron has great hops. that along with being 7'1" damn kid can be special if he puts his mind to it.
I truly never, ever thought I'd be saying this (particularly this early) but I don't think it would be a bad idea to very slowly ease Byron B.J. Mullens into some rotation minutes. He has put on weight and somehow looks significantly more agile and athletic than he did over the summer, both great improvements. Not only that, he's more active in the post (especially on the block) than any of our other big guys with the exception of Serge at times. Let's make it happen for Byron.
Yeah, the statline for Mullens probably won't be that great, but he's showed real hussle. It seems like he just hasn't gotten used to the speed of the NBA. Hopefully he shows improvement as the season goes on.
@The DON
The scoreboard cares.
Oh please oh please oh please I want Mullens to make it!
21-16
HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH SON OF MARY AND MOSES!!!!!!!
WHAT A BLOCK BY MULLENS! I DONT CARE IF IT WAS A GOALTEND
@The DON
you're messed up man
Mullens is turning me on right now. He has size, mobility, and a soft shooting touch.
*moisture activated*
Yeah, Mullens still looks a bit out of sync out there, but he's giving effort on defense and hustling on offense. Granted, this is vs a horribly discouraged knicks team.
wow Mullens is really athletic for a 7 footer.
Holy.... I didn't even notice that Hill was in the game.
YES!!! YESSSSSSS!!!!!!! MULLENS!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, Hill is an EPIC bust. I LOVE IT! More reason for knick fans to be miserable